THE PIED PIPER

The Pied Piper

The hysteria of winning the World Cup in cricket has shifted gears and turned into anger against the overflowing cup of corruption. Led by the veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare in his fast unto death for a tougher JanLok pal bill, the Jantar Mantar of New Delhi has become the new Tahrir square. Hazare has stirred the deep frustration and the buried desire of the common man to stand against unbearable and shameful corrupt system of our country. We are forced to pay for every service to which we are entitled free of cost as a law abiding and taxpaying citizen. The spontaneous and incredible support to Anna across the country and on the virtual world is the result of the fast running scammometer of this government. His fast-unto-death, demanding the passage of the JanLok pal Bill and inclusion of the civil society in its drafting has resulted after the complete loss of credibility in the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats.

The toothless draft of the Lokpal Bill prepared by the law ministry has many loopholes. According to the government’s draft, the Lokpal or the ombudsman can receive complaints only from Parliament. The activists are rightly demanding the Lokpal be allowed to receive complaints from the public directly. In a country, where public officers are not known to be exactly responsive to genuine complaints, keeping them outside the ambit of law is counterproductive. The government also wants to keep bureaucrats, the root cause of corruption, outside the purview of the Bill. Both these provisions show the intent of the government clearly: pass the law but make it toothless. India undoubtedly needs an Ombudsman of the kind Anna is demanding. We have seen the efficient and excellent working of the CBI in 2G scam has resulted form its powers from the court. If freedom from the governmental control can make CBI strong, imagine what results a strong ombudsman can give in handling corruption.

While there can be no second opinion in endorsing Mr. Hazare's crusade, forcing the government to take a stand on the Jan Lokpal Bill without a full-scale debate and discussion on it is fraught with danger. Constant friction between the government and civil society will not yield any significant result. A solution should be worked out by enacting a comprehensive bill that borrows the best from the government and civil society. There are apprehensions in the government that by involving the civil society in the drafting of this bill will abdicate its absolute authority, and yielding to such pressure will strike at the roots of the Constitution. According to the some members of the government, Anna is derailing and hijacking the democratic process. He is being accused of undermining the importance of the constitutional representatives and law making authorities while trying to do good for the nation. These allegations show that the government is clearly on the defensive. Now that the majority of the demands of Anna Hazare, are being met by the government, it is being celebrated as the first winning shot against corruption. What remains to be seen is how will the merging of the roles of investigator, judge and prosecutor within one office eradicate corruption from Government offices. Before celebrating this win as a triumph of democracy let us hope that the joint committee members will rub their heads and brains together and come up with a Lokpal bill which will accommodate the demands of the ‘Jan’ and conforms to democratic norms as well.